Queen Marchesa - Games We Play

Chromaticus
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Post by Chromaticus » 10 months ago

Throwing up some ideas here from my thread on the general forum.

The idea in general is to play some of the games within the game of magic that deliberately hit dopamine spikes / mental scratchings of an itch.

We've got dungeons, the monarchy, flip cards, battles, superfriends, land combos, the ring tempts you, Sunforger, even stickers and attractions!

I'm really into the concept of this — the goal is to have a deck full of cards and mechanics I love, and very little boring stuff.
Decklist

Commander

Approximate Total Cost:

Okay- real rough draft is up!

Really have appreciated the feedback on the other thread - hoping that having more of a skeleton to work with here can provide basis for some more.

Looking for still more fun stuff, especially that can fill in some of the good stuff slots.

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darrenhabib
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Post by darrenhabib » 10 months ago

Looking good! I'm probably a little bias though :P

As a big Sunforger player and it's always good to have one of each type of answer you might want at a given time; Fire Covenant, Tibalt's Trickery, Anguished Unmaking.

Skullclamp is looking good with the Queen Marchesa tokens and the tokens from Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools (btw you've misspelled in your deck list and also Godless Shrine).
Because I can see that the Sunforger + Clever Concealment + Mistveil Plains is a massive plan to protecting your planeswalkers each turn, I think that Fighter Class is excellent in this deck.
Leveling up the class can represent a mini-game and the last ability is very relevant in the deck with deathtouch and the Ring 3rd ability.

There are some ETB creatures Dockside Extortionist, Kardur, Doomscourge, Loran of the Third Path that I think are worth it because of the various blink cards you are playing.

Thorough Investigation is another "venture into the dungeon" and draw.

I feel like the The One Ring has got to be part of completing being "fully tempted by the ring" and is just an excellent card.

Reconnaissance is one of my favorite cards as it's amazing for just attacking with all your creatures, getting monarch/initiative back in your case and then the trick is that after damage is dealt, you can untap all your creatures still for defense.

The cards that I like the least in your deck are Invasion of Innistrad, Generous Gift, Crackling Doom, Painful Truths, Orzhov Advokist, Ajani Steadfast, Glacial Chasm, Nesting Grounds, Vesuva.
I know I recommended Ajani Steadfast but it doesn't protect itself like the others do now that I look at it more.
Also now that I can see the deck I think Glacial Chasm is going to be detrimental at times.
So you can cut Glacial Chasm, Nesting Grounds (even though can move loyalty counters) and Vesuva.
There is still plenty to be assembling with Weathered Wayfarer ;)

Shizo, Death's Storehouse and The Black Gate are good utility lands for your game plan, although with Land Tax these do come at a cost.

Chromaticus
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Post by Chromaticus » 10 months ago

I… didn't know Fighter Class existed. What a beating!

I like a lot of these suggestions and will look to implement them for sure. Reconnaissance is such a neat design. I feel like if they stapled it to a commander it would be some 5 cost monstrosity in Naya.

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darrenhabib
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Post by darrenhabib » 10 months ago

I've got the stickers and attractions that I think will best fit your deck.
SPOILER
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The Ring 1st ability basically gives you Skulk.
Then with "Whenever this creature attacks, tap each creature an opponent controls with the same power and/or same toughness as this creature." if you attack with a 1/1 then only a 0 powered creature can block, so 99% time unbockable.
Shadow for unblockable and the 7/4 stat is perfect if you wanted to setup 3 turn clocks with Queen Marchesa.
If you also have double Exalted then she can attack for 9 damage and it's highly likely that you've damage at least one player for 3 damage with Queen Marchesa so that is a 2 turn clock.
"Protection from even mana" values can help to make a creature unblockable.

Now a goal would be to give a planeswalker "Protection from even mana" and "Protection from odd mana values".
However Park Bleater only puts stickers onto creatures. But there is an Attraction Costume Shop|76555 which allows you to do this.

Lands have an even mana value, so you could look to protect a land like Cabal Coffers or Mistveil Plains from Strip Mine type effects. Very corner case, but it's nice to know your angles.

Another 7 power stat to setup 3 turn clocks with Queen Marchesa.
"Protection from odd mana values" is the other half.
Remember that you have to pick 3 sticker sheets at random at the start of the game, so your chance of getting this combination is 06.66% so less than 1%. We are playing for the rare occurrence for sure.

This also has "{t}: The next time target player would roll one or more dice this turn, instead they roll that many dice plus one, then you choose one of those rolls to ignore." which is perfect with Attractions.
Now Provoke can be used to sneak in an attacker with the right situation, but actually this is more used as a way to kill particular creatures with Deathtouch and The Ring 3rd ability.

Another 7 power stat to setup 3 turn clocks with Queen Marchesa.
I've gone with this card because the First Strike pairs nicely with Deathtouch.

Also the draw cards is very powerful. Often your unbockable goes hand-in-hand with The Ring 1st ability so if you are attacking with a big creature it's more likely to get blocked.
However with sticker abilities I've already mentioned above, getting in bigger attackers is possible. And there are plenty of sticker stats among the chosen that can make a creature have between 6-10 power!
The Undying is nice protection and with blink can be reset.

A creature or planeswalker "dies" if it is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.
So you can put Undying or Persist onto a planeswalker and it will work. Unfortunately it will return with a +1/+1 counter even though this doesn't do anything.
I'm thinking that Scholar of New Horizons is going to be better than Cartographer's Hawk for this reason.
This would be a combo with White Plume Adventurer untapping creatures each turn as you could take off the +1/+1 counter each turn that opponents looks to attack to kill your planeswalker.

The dream is trying to combo with the other sticker that has Persist.
The other half of the combo with Persist and Undying.
Again this is a 06.66% chance to get both of these at start of game.

Menace could be a thing for getting combat damage in.

If this is paired with sticker Urza's Dark Cannonball|Token|15305 you can give Queen Marchesa 10/10 stat and then double Exalted puts her up to a 12/12 with Shadow is a 2 turn clock.
This has a Proliferate ability which is perfect with planeswalkers.

Now your deck doesn't have an unlimited sacrifice outlet, just the Phyrexian Tower.
The "Sacrifice this permanent: Draw two cards." can be handy with Brought Back and Cosmic Intervention but also you can get an infinite combo with Persist and Undying.
Getting all 3 particular stickers picked at random is going to be like winning the lotto. But if you do get it, that's an extra endorphin hit and be make sure to take a photo!

Another 8 power stat to setup 3 turn clocks with Queen Marchesa.
This gives you a way to keep recasting a card. For example you could keep casting "Lifetime" Pass Holder maybe saccing to Phyrexian Tower each turn.
A combo would be with Fighter Class (on level 2) + Skullclamp and any creature with 1 toughness. Note that you can't use this with tokens.
And of note there are actually 3 stickers that give a 1 toughness stat.

But also having Carnival Elephant Meteor|Token|15523 to keep sacrificing to get triggers from a particular card is an aim.
It must be noted that with Park Bleater you can only put stickers onto creatures that have entered the battlefield and not just any creature you want.
Your deck does have recurring ways for them to ETB with things like Ephemerate, Brought Back, Eerie Interlude, Cosmic Intervention. But in the example that you might use Eerie Interlude, Cosmic Intervention in response to a board wipe, Park Bleater would have summoning sickness so this makes it harder to put stickers onto a creature that you really might want to.



If you draw "Lifetime" Pass Holder then it's pretty likely that you'll get at least one Attraction going for the game.
But how many times you going to get "Lifetime" Pass Holder back from the graveyard? Rolling a 6 isn't going to be that often. If you are lucky maybe you'll get 2 Attractions going in a game.
The better games are more likely when you have Sunforger + Brought Back + Mistveil Plains. Unfortunately "Lifetime" Pass Holder doesn't trigger with Cosmic Intervention.

The only other games where you are going to seriously have multiple Attractions in play is if you get a Sticker combo going with Eldrazi Guacamole Tightrope|Token|15513 and say Skullclamp.

Again you have to have a minimum of 10 and I've picked the ones I think go most with the theme of your deck.
SPOILER
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This allows you to put a stickers on any nonland permanent not just creatures.
The perfect card to make your smaller creatures unblockable.
The additional attack is nice and it does untap those creatures so you can then just leave them back for defense once you've got the monarch/initiative back

With the stickers that can pump power stats you can of course shorten the commander damage clock of Queen Marchesa to just 2 turns, or even just 1 in some cases.

There are quite a few attack/combat triggers with the stickers, so doubling up on those is nice, for example the Proliferate with Carnival Elephant Meteor|Token|15523.
Both modes work great with the deck as opponents have to choose first. If they pick a large creature or important creature then you can fight and kill it off with deathtouch.
Otherwise you can blink for an ETB effect. This is one of the cards that allows you to use Park Bleater on a creature that you've had in play for awhile.
This is great for using your graveyard as a resource and with Phyrexian Tower you can sacrifice to recur each turn.

This could be your ticket to get Attractions with bringing back "Lifetime" Pass Holder.
Dockside Extortionist for your mana needs.
Kardur, Doomscourge is perfect for protecting your planeswalkers.
Hall of Mirrors|76227 is definitely the most spicy of the lot and can make for the most outrageous game states.
The idea is that you've gone wide with tokens off your planeswalkers say and then you can change them all into something grand.

Examples are say you make them all Frodo, Sauron's Bane and which ever ones don't get blocked you use activate abilities to kill opponent(s).
Nadaar, Selfless Paladin is going to trigger dungeons a bunch of times and pump the team by +1/+1 for each creature you control, aka Craterhoof Behemoth.
Even if you only have a few creatures in play making them say all a Weathered Wayfarer so that you can get a bunch of your utility lands at once is going to be good.
You could even use token creatures with "Lifetime" Pass Holder and use Skullclamp for a bunch of Attractions and card draw.
If you get to combine with the sticker stats you could have a creature 10/10 to make your tokens into.
Also say you have the Proliferate ability on attack, you could ultimate all your planeswalkers with probably only 4 creatures on the battlefield.
Having some more free token generators is in theme with the deck. Fodder for planeswalker defense or going wide.

The Balloon have flying which makes them better for getting in damage,
Just rounding out the effects with solid card advantage.
Attractions

Stickers

Creatures you control bonuses

Targeting/choosing creatures

Graveyard

Approximate Total Cost:


Chromaticus
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Post by Chromaticus » 10 months ago

What an awesome thing to do for someone else's deck. Thank you in a big way!

I've been poking around with it, goldfishing on Moxfield - my favorite interaction thus far from the stickers is Forth Eorlingas! making a plethora of stickers, and making one of them into a giant Eldrazi size threat. Very cool!

I think Volrath's Stronghold is going to come in - as dumb as it sounds, these silly un-cards are very fun to get going.

I looked into the Assemble Contraptions mechanic as well — they… did not enable those as well as they did attractions and stickers. Riveting Rigger is one of the better options and it sucks.

For the general deck, I like the idea of Reconstruct History - could be a fun mini-game to try and get it for full value.

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darrenhabib
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Post by darrenhabib » 10 months ago

You can probably tell that I have a lot of fun with brewing and it helps to inspire ideas for myself as well :)

Unfortunately Contraptions and in fact all cards from the other "Un" sets are not Commander legal. The only cards that are legal are from the Unfinity set and specifically they can't have the "acorn" hologram mark.

Chromaticus
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Post by Chromaticus » 10 months ago

I'm willing to look past legality for contraptions - I think it's clear that if the set were printed after unfinity instead of prior, they would be. My group will be okay with it give a rule zero conversation.

That said, the enablers are GARBAGE.


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